MUMBAI: Former ETV Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand editor-in-chief Brajesh Misra is all set to launch his own regional Hindi news channel UP TV on 14 January, ahead of the state assembly elections.

The Uttar Pradesh-centric channel, whose tagline is ‘Satyameva Jayate’ (Truth alone triumphs), is currently available in test mode.

The free-to-air (FTA) channel is owned and operated by Uttar Pradesh Television Network.

Misra, who had quit ETV UP/UK in November, is the chairman and chief editor of the channel while Shrey Shukla is the COO and managing editor.

Ashish Anand is the sales and marketing head of the channel while Sandeep Sharma is the distribution head. Both Anand and Sharma were earlier with ETV.

“UP TV will be an independent channel without any corporate funding. I have raised money from family and close friends to start this channel with my colleague Shrey Shukla. UP TV’s priority will be to offer unbiased news. The channel will focus on raising issues concerning the common man,” Misra told TelevisionPost.com after the soft launch of the channel.

Lucknow-headquartered UP TV has bureau offices in Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Meerut, Noida and Agra. The channel will be broadcast from the state’s capital city. It has set up a full-fledged broadcast centre in the city.

The channel has 75 district representatives, 28 staff correspondents and 363 news informers to cover the length and breadth of UP. “UP TV is the largest broadcaster in Uttar Pradesh with the largest editorial team and a journalist in every assembly seat of the state,” Misra asserted.

Misra also informed that UP TV has a state-of-the-art studio in Lucknow besides modern and sophisticated production, news gathering and archiving facilities.

UP TV, Misra said, will be available on all direct-to-home (DTH) and cable TV platforms. The channel will also be launched on Doordarshan’s free DTH platform Freedish depending on the availability of slot.

He also said that UP TV will be an integrated platform with presence across TV, web and mobile. Besides being available on cable and DTH, it will also be live-streamed on the channel’s official website.

“UP TV will not just be limited to TV; it will also be integrated with digital. The channel can be live-streamed even on 2G connections. Besides that, we will be active on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp to take the feedback of viewers,” Misra noted.

He also said that the company will look at launching other state-specific news channels. However, the priority is to establish the new channel and make it self-sustaining.